Pitotubes Review

I am trying really hard not to be bitter about this, but honestly I'm so ticked off about this product that I want to throw it in the trash.

Pitotubes are refillable travel bottles that use and airless pump to dispense your product. I've heard that high end cosmetic and personal care companies use these pumps because they help get all the product out. I first heard about these bottles back in 2006 in this CoolHunting.com post, "Cool" I though, but I'm not a jet setter so there is no need for me to have a set of travel bottles. Fast forward to now; I go to the gym three days a week, and I shower there. Dragging around an entire bottle of shampoo was getting out of hand, so I decided to find and buy the best leak proof product available, and I settled on Pitotubes. The bottles range in price from 5 to 10 dollars each, and you can get a set for 40-50. I don't think that's cheap, but I did my research and they came across as a quality product.

The bottles came, I filled them, and they worked great... for the first month. I'll get into my Pitodrama after I hash out the basics of this product. So, I really don't like the way these look. Maybe I'm conservative, but shampoo doesn't need to look like it's been flown in from the future. I do like how they work, as you pump out the whatever, the bottom of the bottle moves up with the liquid. I'm don't like the pumps much because they really force the whatever out, which can result in a mess, and you can't control the amount they pump out. This seems pretty excusable though, since all technology has it's limitations.

Here's what I really hate about Pitotubes: THEY BREAK. I started with six working bottles and three of them broke after about a month of regular, but not heavy, use. WTF?! I said and promptly emailed the company. I expect a travel bottle that costs 10 dollars to work for longer then two months. The back and forth I had with the rep was pleasant, and to her credit she really did cool off my bad mood and "fix" the situation. They sent replacements, and I sent back the broken bottles. The rep told me that it was bad luck and that they have a less then 2% return rate. Hmmm, well ok, as long as my overpriced, over-engineered hunk of plastic does it's job. Which of course it didn't. The new bottles are not starting to break.

I'm done with this company. They tried, I tried, and we obviously can't come to an agreement on what a quality product is. I will not being trying to get my broken bottles replaced again and there is no way in hell I would think about buying any product from this company again.

Here are some alternatives to Pitotubes that I think I'll try once the rest of the bottles crap out. (I haven't tried any of these, but they don't seem to have Pitotubes biggest failure, which is too many moving parts to break)

Silicon bottles by PKOH, a bit expensive, but how could a squeeze bottle break?
Nalgene set that I doubt is leak proof in air travel, but Nalgene does use some durable plastic.
Eagle Creek set I like that the bottle shape is a little less random then the Nalgene bottles.
PlasticTravelBottles.com not sure about the quality, but they certainly are cheap.